this was the idea i had concerning trying to have a variety of mid tier villains in the game but being mindful of graphic bank space.

the animations are basically the same in the 4 directions but the top portion is interchangeable.
so functionally a new character can be as simple as a 4 tile set, and a new pallete.(or the same palette if they maybe all belong to the same gang.)

hell even the top/down portions are a single tile that can be flipped horizontally.

i have a 4 frame setup for the top/down animations for more visible swing, despite it being basically 2 frames with flipping.
side motions are only 2 frames as i don't seem to notice much of a difference and it conserves space.